Spiritual Emphasis Week - day 1

When I was a youth pastor, I took middle school students on backpacking trips. Basically, we carried everything that we needed, we set up camp in a different place every day, we cooked our own food, and we would pump water through filters every time we needed more water.

One year, we decided to go to South Manitou Island. In the middle of the week, we hiked to the west side of the island because it’s a great beach spot. We gave our students time to unwind and relax in the sand and water before dinner. They were having a great time until we heard thunder. I knew we needed water before dinner. I grabbed all the water bottles to fill them up as quickly as possible. Not much time passed before we saw lightning.

Lightning and the beach aren’t a great combination, so we sent the students to their tents until the storm passed. After I made sure everybody was in their tents, I went back into Lake Michigan with another adult leader, and we finished pumping water.

Anybody see a problem?

We had three bottles left to fill and the wind picked up. There was thunder and lightning all around us. One more to go. It started pouring hard.

We were standing in Lake Michigan pumping water during a hard thunderstorm. A lot of things could have wrong, but God was gracious during my stupidity.

I should have been in the shelter of my tent waiting for the storm to pass, but I was committed to filling up those water bottles. My security was traded for something less important at the time.

In Psalm 91, we are going to see the security of the Lord Jesus Christ in a believer’s life. We’re going to be reminded that the Lord is our shield, giving protection when we are tempted to trade our security for something less important. We’re going to be challenged to stay focused on following the Lord. We’re going to be encouraged that true satisfaction in life doesn’t comes from remaining committed to the shelter and security of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Successful soccer seasons or winning “princess the pig” are really nice things, but our true satisfaction in life comes when we experience the security of Jesus Christ.

MAIN IDEA: Three decisions that will help me experience the security of Jesus Christ in my life.

Decide to look for Jesus, get in his shadow, and stay there.

Psalm 91:1–2 (ESV)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

Pastor Chris, that sounds easy. Stay close to Jesus. I’ve been taught that my entire life. I even used an alarm clock for three weeks. Can I have something new?

Three thoughts. First ~ If you stopped using your alarm clock, did you learn what the NOTICE challenge intended to teach you? Second ~ If you have been taught your entire life to stay close to Jesus, are you doing it? Third ~ Often, stay close to Jesus assumes we want God to get on board with our plan. That is the opposite of what this chapter teaches.

Write these words down. Dwell and abide.

Look at verse 1, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High…” In the Old Testament, dwell is used for the place that you live or where you sit down and get comfortable.

Does anybody have a phone that is in a case? I took my phone out of the original box and put it in this case. I changed my phone’s dwelling place because an otterbox is supposed to provide shelter for my iphone. I never expected the case to get into the box with my phone. For my phone to experience the shelter of the case, it had to leave one place and go to another place. My phone will never reach its potential inside the comfort of the white box.

If we want to experience the security of Jesus Christ in our life, we need to dwell in the shelter of the Most High. We can’t do that if we aren’t looking for Jesus. We won’t do that if we aren’t willing to leaving something behind.

Look back at verse 1, “…will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” When we abide, we stay with Jesus for an extended period of time. We find where Jesus is staying, we get comfortable on his couch and we stay there for a long time.

There is one more piece ~ get in his shadow. Are you sure you’re not telling us to just ‘stay close to Jesus’?

When I get into a shadow, I’m in the background and something else takes the spotlight. The light isn’t focused on me.

When we get in the Lord’s shadow and stay there, we become less important than we think we are. We experience the security of Jesus more and stop replacing it with our own security.

Decide you will always find shelter in biblical truth.

Psalm 91:1–2 ESV

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Look at verse 2, “I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress…’”

A refuge and a fortress is something or somewhere we run to when we need a break from whatever. It’s our safe place. It’s the place we can unwind and be ourselves. No guards. No masks. No pretending.

When you run to a shelter that has little or no biblical truth, you are entering a dangerous place. Temptation will bully you. Lies will scream at you. Sin will sell you out before you realize what happened.

What does shelter without biblical truth look like?

- Talking about other people because you just have to “let it out”

- Being in a room alone with a person of the opposite sex.

- Killing time on the internet because your brain needs a break

- Emotional eating, like eating an entire package of oreos

- Any action you are going to regret the next morning

Every person gets stressed out and needs a break. It’s important that we don’t trade our security in Jesus Christ for something less important. If you cannot abide in the shadow of the Almighty while you are escaping for a break, it is likely the Lord is not your refuge and your fortress.

Decide your trust in Jesus Christ will never be traded or compromised.

Psalm 91:1–2 ESV

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Do you trust Jesus right now? How do you know? Is there proof? If I asked your three closest friends if you trust Jesus, what would they say?

Is Jesus Lord and Savior ~ or ~ Is Jesus simply a provider that will keep you out of hell?

Is your Bible a place of refuge that protects you from false securities ~ or ~ is it just another textbook that you stop using when the class is over?

Discussion questions:

Without mentioning any names, what are some things you see adults doing so their trust in Jesus is not traded or compromised?

What is one thing you can do this week, so your Bible is more than a textbook?